# The Criminal Procedure Rules 2025, Rule 3.26: Commencement of preparatory hearing

Extent: E+W

At the beginning of a preparatory hearing, the court must—
(a) announce that it is such a hearing; and
(b) take the defendant’s plea under rule 3.32 (Arraigning the defendant on the indictment), unless already done.
[Note. See section 8 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 and section 30 of the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996.]

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/909/rule/3.26 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-procedure-rules-2025/rule-3.26
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.